


Lost and Found

by panicatthepoolparty



Category: Buzzfeed The Try Guys (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Gen, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 19:04:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17310197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panicatthepoolparty/pseuds/panicatthepoolparty
Summary: Zach is just a lonely kid, trying to get through high school without dying of embarrassment. Eugene is just a dog lover trying desperately to find his fluffy friends. The circumstances aren't the best, but friendship can blossom in the strangest of places.





	Lost and Found

Zach was not a dog person. Most definitely not. He hated the loud, dirty, annoying creatures, they greatly paled in comparison to his own preferred companions. But upon seeing a tiny, wildly scruffy dog rushing up to him excitedly, wagging its tail, he couldn’t help but smile. 

“Hey there lil buddy, where are your parents?” He was unashamedly using a baby voice, because hey, there was no one around to hear it. He felt around the dog’s neck for a collar, but didn’t find one. “Well you’re definitely not a stray,” he said, mostly to himself. 

As he continued to pat the friendly but extremely grubby dog, he soon became aware of another, smaller dog approaching him. It sniffed him cautiously, but soon let him pet it. After talking to the dogs, who were friends by the looks of it, for a few minutes, he really had to go. He gave them each a final pat, then rushed to school. 

 

School wasn’t exactly Zach’s favourite place. Making friends was never the easiest task for him, and as a result, there were only a few people he could really call his friends. He didn’t really mind this of course, Becky and Keith were the best friends he could have asked for, and he didn’t really need anyone else. Only now that ‘Becky and Keith’ had turned into ‘BeckyandKeith’, things were a bit different. 

Third wheeling wasn’t fun. In a school filled with two-person tables, he was now doomed to be the one friend sitting alone in class, because ‘sorry, there isn’t enough room for three’. 

The absolute worst times were those in classes with an even number of students, and just the right number of desks for the class. That lead to him needing to sit beside whoever else had drawn the short straw to be the odd friend out that day, in various friendship groups. He learnt a lot about people that way. One group, including Safiya, Freddie, Kristin and Jen all seemed generally nice and friendly, but talked a surprising amount of dirt about each other behind their backs. Zach overheard it all. Was it really worth having a big group of friends if they all talked about how much they hated you the moment you left the room?

The ‘popular’ group was similarly, if not more interesting. Ned, Ariel, Kelsey, Quinta and of course, Eugene. Zach knew that Ned and Ariel had been a couple for a while, they were overwhelmingly public about their affection for one another, but the two self proclaimed leaders of their little group were Kelsey and Ned. Eugene in particular fascinated him, as the silent and brooding Korean was impossible to read, his poker face never once shifting. On this day in particular, the boy seemed to be worried and tired, a contrast to his usual confident look. 

Eugene’s potential emotional turmoil aside, Zach really needed to put his nose to the grindstone and work, because school really wasn’t going well for him. his last report card had been filled with Cs, Ds and a solitary A in drama, the only class he was confident in. Math was probably his worst; he just couldn’t focus properly during his teacher’s repetitive monotonous speeches, and always ended up returning to his favourite hobby of analysing people. 

 

The next time Zach saw the two adorable dogs was almost a week later, as he walked home from the school bus. They were a little dirtier, but what worried him was that they both looked a lot skinnier. The dogs followed him as he went home, and an idea came to his head. 

“Mom, I’m home!” Slamming down his backpack, he gave his cat Bowie an absent minded pat, before heading to the cat’s food bin. Bowie meowed in excitement, thinking he was getting an extra meal. “Not now Bow, someone else is hungry today.” He stuck his head out the window to confirm that yes, the two dogs were still in the road outside his house. He filled a couple of bowls with the cat food, before heading outside to the dogs. 

Both dogs immediately attacked the food with vigour, finishing after a couple of minutes. They bounded around the garden, looking so cute that Zach just had to take a quick photo. As he headed back into his house with the empty bowls, he couldn’t help but wonder who the owner of these two dogs was, and if they were missing them. 

 

After being in a world of confusion during his math test, Zach shouldn’t have been surprised by the big red F written on it when he got it back the next week. Sighing, he went to put it in his bag, but ended up dropping it on the floor. The girl sitting next to him, Kelsey picked it up and was about to hand it back to him before she started to laugh.

“Dude, how did you even manage to get an F how much of an idiot are you.” She flicked through his paper, holding it out of his reach. “0/6, 3/8, 1/6 wrong wrong wrong, man Kornfeld, you’re dumb.” He snatched it back from her, ripping it slightly in his haste. His ears reddened as he realised that with how loudly Kelsey had been talking, everyone in the class probably now knew about his grade. Keith made eye contact with him from the other side of the room and looked at him sympathetically. 

As soon as class finished, he stormed out, heading straight to the bathroom, and locking himself into a cubicle. He wasn’t an idiot, math just wasn’t his best subject. After he was suitably calmed down, he flushed the toilet and exited the cubicle. He was surprised to see Eugene standing at the sink washing his hands in the otherwise empty bathroom. As the taller boy finished and made to leave, he paused, turning to Zach.

“Kornfeld? Look, don’t take what Kelsey says to heart,” He looked awkward as he wrung his hands together. “She can really be an ass sometimes.” He gave a half-smile, then started towards the door. 

“Eugene?” He paused, with his hand on the door. “Thanks.” He turned and smiled, before leaving Zach alone, but somewhat comforted in the bathroom. 

 

After seeing the dogs a handful more times over the next few weeks, and seeing them grow steadily grubbier and skinnier, Zach really started to worry. So of course, he took to the internet. He quickly found a website for missing pets in LA, and scrolled through the pictures. Eventually, he came across a picture of two very familiar looking dogs. 

PESTO AND EMMA

Missing for 5 weeks. If you have any information about them, please contact me. 

A number was listed below, and he quickly typed it into his phone.

07:07 Hi, is this the owner of pesto and emma?

05:08 Yes it is, do you have any information about them?

05:10 ive seen them a bunch of times around my neighbourhood over the last few weeks, fed them a bit, last i saw em was yesterday i think

05:10 oh my fucking god im so relieved   
05:10 i wanna cry im so happy they’re ok i thought they’d been run over by some jackass or something

07:12 [image]  
07:12 [image]  
07:13 can confirm, no jackasses here :)

07:14 thank you so fucking much man I’ve been so so worried about them i miss them so much

07:14 I reckon if u wander around the park where I live for a bit u might find them, I’ve seen them hanging out there a bunch

07:15 ill keep an eye out as well, if i see them ill just text u?

07:16 thanks man, sounds awesome

 

After the first few texts, they fell into comfortable conversation. Zach introduced himself as ‘Z’, not wanting to reveal too much about his identity to a stranger, and the other boy called himself ‘E’. E explained that he would head over to Zach’s neighbourhood in an instant if he could, but as his parents were home, he couldn’t. 

07:38 surely if u explained to ur parents about finding the dogs they’d let u tho? like aren’t they missing them as much as u r ?

07:40 yeah uhh  
07:41 my parents kinda don’t know the dogs exist

07:42 dude what  
07:42 how long have u had them??

07:43 about two years..

07:46 ok but how the fuck did u hide 2 dogs from ur parents for 2 years  
07:46 also why the fuck

07:47 with great difficulty  
07:47 my parents hate dogs, and i saw them in a kill shelter and couldn’t not take them home  
07:48 on weekdays my parents aren’t home till like 11 so i just walk them when they’re not home n like in the middle of the night

07:48 dang thats commitment   
07:49 highkey impressed

07:51 gtg dinner, ttyl?

07:52 sounds good

Over the next couple of days, Zach got used to hearing the buzz of a new text every so often while he studied, and came to enjoy the slightly weird conversations he had with E. He learnt that the boy was was a junior in high school, just like him, and that he spent about 90% of his life studying. They were both careful to avoid mentioning any details about themselves that were too personal, because stranger danger, blah blah. He was pretty sure E wasn’t a sexual predator. But still. 

On both Monday and Tuesday E came to his neighbourhood to look for the dogs, but to no avail. Zach hadn’t been able to go out to meet him, as his mom was so disappointed in his math grade, she’d made him stay at home to study. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to meet E or not. One part of him hoped to meet him, as the guy seemed nice, and was fast being considered one of Zach’s good friends. But at the same time, he worried that after seeing who he was, E would decide he wasn’t worth being friends with. It was hard to discern over text, but he had a definite cool vibe, one that shouted he was way too cool to be friends with Zach. And he didn’t really want to lose the easy banter they had between them. 

Meanwhile, school was getting worse and worse, day by day. He found himself being the subject of ridicule by Kelsey and most of her friends, about his grades, then about his clothes, then about his tendency to third wheel. For the first time in his life he was thrust into the spotlight, and not in a good way. He just kept his head down, and hoped it would all go away soon. 

09:42 hey

10:14 sry was studying  
10:14 wassup

10:15 all g  
10:16 just attempting to work  
10:16 its hard how do u do it all the time

10:18 yay join me in the world of nerds  
10:19 patience and practice my friend   
10:19 what r u studying?

10:20 math  
10:20 the literal worst

10:21 yo math isnt so bad its p fun   
10:21 prob my fav subject tbh

10:24 HOW THO  
10:24 i feel like my brain is gonna explode i understand nothing  
10:25 i miss when math was just like counting 

10:26 i love math bc like its either right or wrong? and theres always a way to get to the right answer if u work on it for long enough  
10:27 like with english, or humanities its basically just how well u can bs, and marking is always subjective  
10:27 with math at least u know if ur right or not

10:31 i guess that makes sense?  
10:32 I’m wrong more often than I’m right tho which makes it p depressing

10:34 ah rip that sucks  
10:34 could one of ur parents help u maybe?

10:35 nah they understand this even less than i do lol  
10:36 what r u working on?

The conversation dwindled down as it got later, both boys focusing on their studying, E a lot more than Zach. 

11:47 hey e  
11:47 are we friends  
11:48 ?

11:57 lol what brought this on

11:59 like u said we were earlier and idk just wondered if u consider us to be   
12:00 nvm doesn’t matter 

12:01 i mean i should think we are??  
12:01 don’t u think we are?

12:03 yeah was just   
12:03 yeah i do 

12:04 r u ok?

12:05 yeah just  
12:05 you ever been made fun of?

12:06 yep tons  
12:07 my old school was hell but its a lot better here

12:08 it just sucks man

12:10 yeah it does but it gets better eventually  
12:10 people get over it

12:11 i hope they will

12:12 I’m sure they will  
12:12 its late, aren’t u usually sleeping by now?

12:14 yeah was just trying to get this stupid worksheet done  
12:14 y r u still awake anyway?

12:17 lol my sleep schedule is messed up don’t follow my example  
12:18 i wanna sleep earlier i would sleep at 10 if i could, but parents say i gotta stay to make the most out of my study time

12:18 what time do u sleep then?

12:19 ehh depends, i usually stop studying at around 2ish? then i walk dogs

12:20 dude..  
12:20 thats like what, 4 hours sleep?

12:21 I’m used to it so its not so bad   
12:22 you, however are not, so go sleep

12:24 hypocrite

12:25 go

12:26 okokok gn

12:29 gn

 

That Friday as he headed home from the bus stop, Zach was surprised to see two familiar doggy faces. The wildly hairy one (Pesto, he remembered) jumped up at him excitedly, but Zach was preoccupied with pulling his phone out of his pocket. He hit recents, found E, and for the first time hit call. 

“Hello?” Zach was surprised to hear such a strong Texan drawl, that wasn’t the voice he had pictured at all. 

“Dude, it's me. Get over here like now the dogs are here.”

“Oh my fucking god tell me you aren’t messing with me.”

“I’m not messing with you, now get over here! The corner store by the park.”

“I’ll be there in 20 minutes, taking my mom’s car. Do you think you can keep them there until I make it?”

“Yeah, yeah of course I got you, now drive.”

“Thanks so much, see you.”

 

Zach sat down on the curb by the store, patting Emma with one hand, Pesto with the other. He was nervous but happy. Nervous to finally meet the mysterious person he’d been talking to, and happy and excited that these dogs would finally be reunited with their owner after 6 long weeks. 

The 20 minutes flew by, and before he knew it, an expensive looking black car was pulling into the street, before parking hazardously across the road from him. The door opened and the two dogs in Zach’s arms flew across to the tall asian boy who left the car, barking crazily. The force of the two tiny dogs leaping on him pushed him to the ground, where he sat hugging the dogs who wagged their tails and licked every inch of him they could find. It was a sweet sight.

As Zach watched the picturesque reunion, he caught his first glimpse at the boy’s face. He froze as he realised who he had befriended. E for Eugene. Eugene Lee Yang. Eugene cool-popular-dude Yang. Eugene comfort-Zach-in-a-bathroom Yang. What. Right now Eugene didn’t look as calm and composed as he always did in school, he was visibly and audibly crying as he wrapped his arms around his beloved pets. It was such an emotional moment, Zach felt like he was intruding by just watching. 

Eugene hadn’t noticed him yet, was focused on the animals he hadn’t seen in so long. After a few minutes, he finally looked up, and upon seeing Zach was visibly shocked. 

“Kornfeld? Zach?” Zach gave an embarrassed wave.

“Hey,”

“Hey.” He finally stood up, and held out his hand for Zach to shake. “Thanks. For everything, I really appreciate it.”

“No problem, just glad you found them again.”

Eugene picked up Emma for another hug, before grimacing as the smell hit his nose.

“Yikes, she really needs a bath.” He stripped off his jacket, placing it in the front seat for them to sit on. Zach gave the dogs each a final pat, and Eugene gave a final wave, and then they were gone. 

 

When he got home, Zach changed the name in his phone from ‘E’ to ‘Eugene’. He sat on his bed, staring at the phone, wanting to send a text but not knowing what to say. He just couldn’t get over the fact that silent, emotionless and effortlessly cool Eugene was the friend he had made and grown to care about, the nerdy dog-obsessed mother hen. What did Eugene even have to gain by talking to him? After realising how lame and lonely Zach was, would he decide he wasn’t worth his time?

About an hour later when he checked his phone, he saw a text from Eugene, a picture of Emma and Pesto in the bath, drenched but clean and happy. He replied ‘cutiess’ and Eugene responded with a smiley face. Zach didn’t know what to reply to that so he didn’t. A few hours later, Eugene sent him another photo of the dogs, all bundled up in bed. He didn’t reply. Eugene didn’t send him anything else. 

They didn’t talk on Sunday. 

They didn’t talk on Monday. 

On Tuesday, they had their first lesson together, math. Zach got there early, and sat where he usually did, at a desk next to where Eugene and his friends sat. He wondered who would have to sit with him today, hopefully not Kelsey. It was usually just whoever got to class last, except for if it were Eugene or Quinta, who were best friends and always sat together. 

Ariel and Ned arrived together, and then Quinta. That just left Eugene and Kelsey, so he knew it would be Kelsey sitting next to him. Joy. Eugene arrived at class next, and was about to sit in his normal place before changing his mind. He plopped his bag down beside Zach, before taking the seat. Zach froze. He hadn’t been expecting this.

“Hey Kornfeld,” Zach looked up and returned Eugene’s half smile.

“Hey.” 

They got a few weird looks from Eugene’s friends, and some confused ones from Zach’s, but no one dared to say anything. They didn’t talk much during the lesson, but he didn’t mind. After school, as he pulled out his phone to text Eugene, he smiled, knowing that things were gonna be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> comment and give kudos to make a girl's day :)
> 
> (my first fic yeet hope u enjoyed !)


End file.
